Metacritic’s Top Films, Shows, Games of 2016

With all of 2016’s films now out in U.S. theaters, Metacritic.com has revealed what films, games and TV shows were the best of the year based on the aggregate scores of the top critics. I’ve divided the lists into three sections – films, TV shows and major video games. Check out the scores below:

Best Films
This list does NOT include old film re-releases. Films also have to have over a dozen reviews to be considered, which is why some high scoring works are not included.

There’s also a tally of the movies most frequently mentioned by individual film critics in their year-end Top Ten lists. On that front the twenty best films this year are: “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Arrival,” “Hell or High Water,” “Toni Erdmann,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “The Handmaiden,” “Elle,” “Jackie,” “Paterson,” “American Honey,” “The Lobster,” “20th Century Women,” “Silence,” “Cameraperson,” “The Witch,” “Sing Street,” “Everybody Wants Some,” and “I Am Not Your Negro”.

Best TV Series
The reviews for shows on the site are often for the first few episodes of a season, and so aren’t as reliable overall as the film scores:

There’s also a tally of the TV shows most frequently mentioned by individual TV critics in their year-end Top Ten lists, which I think is actually a more reliable indicator. On that front the twenty best shows on TV right now are: “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “Atlanta,” “The Americans,” “Stranger Things,” “Better Call Saul,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Night Of,” “BoJack Horseman,” “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Westworld,” “Rectify,” “Veep,” “This Is Us,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Insecure,” “The Crown,” “Fleabag,” “The Girlfriend Experience,” and “Halt and Catch Fire”.

Best Video Games
Scoring for games on the site is something of a mess as episodic releases, DLC add-on packs and iOS games are often given their own scores. To keep the list reasonable, I’m sticking to full game releases only – no episodic content or DLC add-on titles like those for “The Witcher 3” and no remasters like “Bioshock” and “Batman: Arkham”: